National Treasure (2004) Unedited: Stealing the Declaration and Making Good Trouble

Beth and Michelle celebrate Independence Day with an unedited watch-along of National Treasure, a pair of diamond paintings, and Nicolas Cage’s entirely reasonable decision to steal the Declaration of Independence before somebody worse gets there first. Start the movie with them and join the hunt as they follow historical clues, question the durability of ancient torches, repeatedly rename Sean Bean, and make remarkably little progress on their crafts. Between disappearing wax, scattered plastic diamonds, Freemason trivia, cloacas, questionable romance, and an alarming amount of property damage, the conversation keeps returning to what independence is supposed to mean. A nation built upon freedom cannot preserve that promise by locking it behind glass or by denying it to anyone whose life falls outside the preferred version of America. The film’s heroes commit a crime because they believe something important is being threatened. Beth and Michelle are not recommending grand theft document, but they do believe in good trouble: speaking up, taking action, and refusing to let government power drown out people’s humanity. Actual independence is not a treasure we inherit once and keep forever. It is something we continually have to defend, for everyone.   Our (un)finished products... that was two hours, it's like making claymation, so tedious!